Border Patrol intercepts $2.4M worth of drugs at US-Mexico border

Customs and Border Protection officers seized 172 pounds of methamphetamine during a vehicle inspection on Texas's southern border.

After the vehicle was referred to a secondary inspection point, CBP officers, with the help of a Border Patrol canine, discovered the methamphetamine at the World Trade Bridge in Laredo, Texas, on Monday. The drugs have a street value of $2.4 million. The investigation has been turned over to the Homeland Security Investigations Unit.

Despite the pandemic, CBP is continuing enforcement efforts. Laredo Port Director Gregory Alvarez said, “Officers at the Laredo Port of Entry have heightened their enforcement efforts for these high-risk commodities, successfully disrupting the flow of deadly narcotics from entering our country.”

Earlier this month, CBP officers intercepted 9 pounds of heroin worth $350,000 at the Laredo crossing.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the United States has experienced a sharp decrease in illegal border crossings. In March, 30,000 migrants were apprehended at or near the U.S.-Mexico border. In April, 15,800 apprehensions were made. During the same period in 2019, 212,000 illegal immigrants were apprehended.

U.S. land borders with Mexico and Canada have been closed since March in an effort to combat the spread of COVID-19. Nonessential border crossings are prohibited. The U.S.-Canada border is slated to reopen on June 21.